Islamists win seats in Jordan's parliament

Jordanian election officials empty ballot boxes to begin counting the votes after polling stations closed, in Amman Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013. Jordanians voted on Wednesday in their first parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring revolts, but a boycott by the main Islamist party will ensure no repeat of an Egypt-style revolution via the ballot box. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
— AP

Jordanian election officials empty ballot boxes to begin counting the votes after polling stations closed, in Amman Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013. Jordanians voted on Wednesday in their first parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring revolts, but a boycott by the main Islamist party will ensure no repeat of an Egypt-style revolution via the ballot box. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
/ AP

The new parliament will for the first time in Jordan's history elect a prime minister - a major power-ceding concession by the king in the wake of street protests over the past two years, inspired by Arab Spring uprisings. The protesters, initially led by youth activists and later taken over by the fundamentalist Brotherhood, have demanded more people power and a greater say in politics.

The election commission said 1.3 million Jordanians, or 56.7 percent of nearly 2.3 million people who were registered to vote, had cast their ballots.